Thompson will go in first round, put Rider on the map

NBA scouts and personnel directors aren't known to hang around places such as Rider College's Alumni Gym, but once every six decades or so a special player compels them to rent a car, click on Mapquest and get over to Lawrenceville.

Jason Thompson, whose stock has risen faster than oil futures in the past year, is one such player. Tonight, when the NBA's annual draft is held at Madison Square Garden, Thompson is expected to be a first-round pick.

"He'll be chosen higher than people think," Knicks president Donnie Walsh said. "He's a good player."

The Knicks (at No. 6) and the Nets (at No. 10) aren't likely to take him that early, but he might not last past Golden State at No. 14, and the Nets could get another crack at him with their pick at No. 21.

Utah Jazz vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin still remembers the first time he saw Thompson. Perrin was doing some typical summer scouting in 2006, watching a workout at LeBron James' basketball skill camp in Akron, when he noticed a tall, skinny kid he had never heard of was holding his own against one of the best players in the world.

"I didn't know anything about him, but I decided I wanted to keep an eye on him," Perrin said in a recent telephone interview. "I made sure to go and see him during the season. Needless to say, I was very impressed."

Perrin followed up on his promise, heading east a handful of times over the winter to watch Thompson, as the 6-11 center led Rider to a 23-10 record and a share of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular-season title. Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor also came to watch twice, and if Thompson is still available, Utah might take him with the 23rd pick.

Whenever his name does get called, Thompson will make history as the first Rider player ever drafted. And when he steps on the court next November, he will become the second Bronc in the NBA, and the first since Herb Krautblatt played for the Baltimore Bullets in 1948-49.

"It will mean a lot to my school, the community, my family," Thompson said from Auburn Hills, Mich., after working out for Detroit on Tuesday. "It means a lot to a lot of people, to players at small schools everywhere, because it tells them that it doesn't matter what school you go to. You can go to any school and still achieve your dreams."

Playing in the NBA has been Thompson's dream since he was a 6-year-old kid writing it down in a little journal in his hometown of Mount Laurel, but four years ago few could have seen this coming.

Back then Thompson was a 6-foot-6 center at Lenape High School who had been overlooked by almost all of the basketball factories. UCLA and Villanova saw something, but told Thompson to eat more carbs and spend a year at a prep school.

Their loss. Thompson stayed close to home at Rider and then sprouted over the next couple of years. Suddenly, Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey had a blue-chipper on his hands, a big man with a handle who could shoot from the outside, post up, rebound, block the occasional shot and help turn the Broncs into a little East Coast midmajor power.

"When we recruited him, it wasn't about the NBA at all," Dempsey recalled. "I don't think that ever came up in the conversation. We talked about the school, and Jason wanted to come here because of our communications department, which is very strong. He came here for all the right reasons, and he stayed for all the right reasons."

Thompson got better in each of four years at Rider. Last season he averaged 20.4 points and 12.1 rebounds, the latter figure good for second-best in the nation.

"He's never plateaued," Dempsey said. "He's always gotten better year to year, month to month, even game to game. That's what I tell the teams. I think he still has a long way to go."

For those still skeptical about the level of competition in the MAAC, Thompson outplayed Kansas State's Michael Beasley, who is expected to be the second player selected tonight, when they met last November. Kansas Sate won the game, 82-69, but Thompson won the battle, scoring 24 points and grabbing seven rebounds to Beasley's 13 and 10.

"That worked out well," Thompson said.

Since then, the scouts were all on board, and Thompson's prospects just continue to rise. For the past 22 days he has been criss-crossing the country on a grueling odyssey of workouts. He has had 15 workouts in 17 days, concluding yesterday with a double workout for the Knicks and Nets.

He visited Golden State twice, Orlando, Memphis, Phoenix, Utah, Toronto, Washington, Cleveland, Houston and Boston, where the Celtics sat him courtside for Game 2 of the Finals. Monday he was in Sacramento for the second time, Tuesday was Detroit and yesterday he flew back East to meet with the locals.

"Wake up in a hotel, eat breakfast and go to a workout," Thompson explained, "do interviews and eat lunch. Then off to the airport. Fly to the next city, go to the hotel and do it all over again. But it's okay. It seems like all the work has paid off, and hopefully a dream of mine since I've been a little kid will become a reality (tonight)."